The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has weighed in on a lawsuit aimed at the State Bar Association of North Dakota over that organization’s use of legally-required lawyer dues to engage in political activities against a shared parenting measure in the 2014 election cycle. The plaintiff in the suit, Bismarck attorney Arnold Fleck, originally argued…

The shared parenting issue – the push to reform North Dakota’s family law to create greater equity between divorced parents when it comes to raising their kids – has been a real headache for the State Bar Association of North Dakota. Despite being an official regulatory body – if you practice law in North Dakota…

North Dakota has a real problem with occupational licensing boards – state-sanctioned organizations that issue licenses to dentists and podiatrists and lawyers – which have seen their missions creep into political advocacy. During the 2015 legislative session I found that fewer than eight state licensing boards with registered lobbyists. In October Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem’s…

Back in February the Goldwater Institute filed a lawsuit against the State Bar Association of North Dakota on behalf of an attorney in the state over the use of lawyer licensing fees for politics. Basically, the SBAND spent almost $50,000 fighting Measure 6 (the shared parenting measure) on the 2014 ballot. The SBAND told me…

Over at Watchdog today I have a story up about the State Bar Association of North Dakota getting sued by a proponent of Measure 6 on the 2014 ballot (the shared parenting measure) who claims that his attorney licensing fees were used illegally for political purposes. For their part the SBAND doesn’t deny that they…

Chris Berg broke this story last night on his 6:30 Point of View program. You can read the complaint in the suit below, which was filed by attorneys for the Arizona-based Goldwater Institute on behalf of Bismarck-based attorney Arnold Fleck. You can read the Goldwater Institute’s press release on the matter here. At issue here…

Measure 6 on the November ballot is the shared parenting measure which seeks to create a presumption of equal custody in divorce cases. Proponents say the status quo is biased against fathers. Opponents say the law will only confuse an already confusing area of the law and create more litigation. But beyond the debate over…